Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has criticized club officials for not putting an end to rumors that he will be sacked in favor of Malaga manager Manuel Pellegrini.

Speculation that Mancini would be fired emerged following his side’s 1-0 loss to Wigan in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday. After the match, the Italian addressed the rumors. “You (media) continue to speak about this for six months and there has been too much in the last two weeks. . . . I don’t know why the club hasn’t stopped this because it is not correct and I don’t think it is true.”

“If it’s true we will see in the next two weeks. If it’s not true, you wrote a lot of stupid things for six months. If it’s true, I’m stupid because I didn’t understand anything about this.

“But I am sure I work with serious people and I’m sure I did a good job, even if we lost this final. Two weeks, maybe one week. Next Sunday. The season will finish. I will know if it’s true or not.”

So should City sack Roberto Mancini?

An argument can certainly be made as Mancini failed to win his side a single piece of silverware this season.

City was knocked out of the Capital One Cup back in September when they were thrashed 4-2 by an underwhelming Aston Villa side. It was a match that Mancini didn’t take seriously, starting Abdul Razak, Denis Suarez and bringing on substitutes Scott Sinclair and Jeremy Helan. While many laugh off the League Cup as only being a hindrance, going out to Villa in that fashion was embarrassing and that’s a piece of silverware that Mancini could now be using to his advantage.

The Citizens run to the FA Cup final was strong but losing to Wigan, who is likely to be relegated from the league, was inexcusable. Credit to the Latics, who played brilliantly on the day, but under no circumstances is a club like City ever to lose that match. Mancini failed to get his team mentally and physically ready for the game. On the pitch, the Citizens were outfought and in the locker-room they were out-witted. It was embarrassing for City and all Mancini could do in return was issue blame.

Slotted in the ‘group of death’ with Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax, City’s route in the Champions League was never going to be easy. But failing to earn a single victory was a travesty. There isn’t a pundit in the world who will argue that losing 3-2 at Madrid or 1-0 at Dortmund was a huge problem but drawing at home with each of the three opponents and getting manhandled 3-1 away at Ajax was completely unacceptable.

City’s performance in the league, however, can’t be deemed a massive failure. Granted, they failed to repeat as champions and instead found themselves looking up at United but finishing comfortably in second place and qualifying for next season’s Champions League is not a terrible result.

More importantly, it’s important to consider how much the Eithad fans love Mancini. Since taking over from Mark Hughes in December 2009, the Italian has helped cultivate the club into one of Europe’s elite while leading the Citizens to FA Cup victory in 2011 and the Premier League title in 2012. And while dissenters argue that Mancini’s success is by virtue of deep-pocketed owners, there’s something to be said for putting the right pieces in place and getting them to work together.

One season without silverware can’t possibly be enough to warrant the sack, can it?